Carrell, fresh from wrapping up his tenure on the US version of The Office after seven seasons with the show, is likely paying back a favour to Gervais and Merchant, who were responsible for providing the show which launched his career.

They are obviously good friends, with numerous skits being played out over the years, including this one

However, this marks the first time that Carrell has appeared in a show that Gervais and Merchant have written exclusively.

It also adds to the sizeable role-call of celebrities lining up to be a part of Gervais’ new series, as it stands, the show will feature Johnny Depp, Les Dennis, “Cheggars” (Keith Chegwin) and Barry off Eastenders (Shaun Williamson). The last three appeared in Gervais and Merchant’s last series Extras.

Gervais also teases the possibility of more big-name guest-stars including “…another big face from The Office… And something for Dr Who fans.”

The series is certainly shaping up to be massive in terms of guest-stars, making it similar to Extras in that sense (Gervais has described it as a cross between Extras and The Office).

Extras was unique in its ability to take pre-conceived notions of how celebrities were meant to act and often presented inverted or exaggerated versions of them, to great effect.

However, Gervais maintains that the theme of that show was finding your true self and doing something in life which you felt proud of or gave you fulfilment, which certainly shone through.

Time will tell whether the pair will be able to create another similarly layered masterpiece.